BNS Section 55: Abetment of an Offence Punishable With Death or Life Imprisonment, if the Offence Is Not Committed (IPC 115 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 55 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) punishes a person who abets a very serious offence, one that carries death or imprisonment for life, even when the offence is never committed. If nothing else in the Sanhita covers that abetment, the abettor can be jailed for up to seven years with a fine, and up to fourteen years with a fine if the act causes hurt. If you still look up "Section 115 IPC", this is the provision you now need. This explainer sets out what Section 55 covers, the punishment, and how it maps to the old law. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number matters now

Abetment was dealt with by Sections 107 to 120 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for more than 160 years. Since 1 July 2024 the IPC is replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), and the abetment provisions now sit in Sections 45 to 62. The rule that punishes abetment of a death or life offence when the offence does not happen is now Section 55, which carries forward old Section 115.

This matters in practice. A charge for an offence committed on or after 1 July 2024 is framed under the BNS, so it cites Section 55, not Section 115. An older matter keeps its IPC number, because the law that applies is the law on the date of the offence. For some years you will see both numbers in live cases.

02What Section 55 covers

Section 55 of the BNS makes abetment a punishable offence in its own right, even when the main crime never happens, if that main crime is one punishable with death or imprisonment for life.

The section has two limbs:

• Section 55, first limb: where the offence abetted is not committed and the Sanhita has no express provision for its abetment, the abettor faces imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine.
• Section 55, second limb: where an act is done in consequence of the abetment that causes hurt to any person, the abettor faces imprisonment of up to fourteen years and a fine.

03Key ingredients

To bring a case under Section 55, the prosecution must show:

• an abetment, by instigation, conspiracy, or intentional aid;
• that the offence abetted is one punishable with death or imprisonment for life;
• that the offence was not in fact committed; and
• that the Sanhita makes no other express provision for punishing that abetment.

The illustration under the section is simple. A instigates B to murder Z. The murder does not take place. A is punishable under Section 55 and faces up to seven years and a fine. If some act done in consequence causes hurt to Z, A faces up to fourteen years and a fine.

The key point is that the offence must not have been committed. If it had been committed, the abettor would be punished under the general rule for a completed offence, not under Section 55.

04Old to new: IPC 115 to BNS 55

Section 115 of the IPC is now Section 55 of the BNS. The two limbs, the seven-year and fourteen-year ceilings, and the illustration are carried over without a change of substance.

Because the rule is the same, judgments decided under Section 115 of the IPC still guide how Section 55 of the BNS is read.

05Punishment and classification

The punishment under Section 55 is imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine. Where an act done in consequence of the abetment causes hurt, the ceiling rises to fourteen years and a fine.

On classification, the matter generally takes the colour of the offence abetted. Because the abetment here is of a death or life offence, it is treated as a serious matter. The precise cognizable, bailable and triable status comes from the BNSS First Schedule.

06What changed from the old law

For this provision, the change is mostly the number. The two limbs and the ceilings are carried over from Section 115 of the IPC into Section 55 of the BNS.

Related provisions in the same group were renumbered too. The lighter class, abetment of an offence punishable only with imprisonment, is now Section 56. The measuring rules for abetment are Section 50, Section 51 and Section 52. Concealing a plan to commit such an offence is Section 58.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A charge under Section 55 rides on a grave main offence, so both the proof of abetment and the sentence are fought hard. The research that helps is the case law on when abetment of a serious offence stands even though the offence failed. Claw gives you more than 30 crore judgments, with the Supreme Court from 1950 and the High Courts from 1990, and returns results in under 5 seconds. You can see how benches have read Section 55 or the old Section 115, and follow a live matter, its orders and hearings, across 9,102 courts, benches and forums by party or advocate name.

Claw does not use customer documents to train its AI models, so sensitive briefs stay private. Start a free Claw account to pull Section 55 precedents and track your own matters at no cost. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• Section 55, BNS (bare text): devgan.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BNS overview and IPC comparison): prsindia.org
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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